A View From The Earth

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash This is the sermon that was offered up during Morning Prayer and Eucharist on August 23, 2020. The Morning Prayer service was held via the zoom platform and the Eucharist was held in person with restrictions for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. Services were affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scripture readings were Isaiah 51:1-6, Psalm 138, Romans 12:1-8, and Matthew 16:13-20. O God, we ask of you today that we may be disciples of the Messiah and that our lives might be transformed by your love and grace. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. It would have been much easier if Jesus had just asked a simple question like "Do you want mayo or tartar sauce with that fish sandwich?"  or “You want fries with that?” We get asked perfunctory questions like that each and every day and we quickly come to an answer, because we don't have to invest much of ourselves in answering. And there...

Photo by Devin Avery on Unsplash This is the sermon that was offered up during Morning Prayer on August 9, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were 1 Kings 19:9-18, Psalm 85:8-13, Romans 10:5-15, and Matthew 14:22-33. Dear God, may we not be distracted when we pray, may we be able to focus on you and in the silence, hear your voice. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.  Awkward.  Uncomfortable.  Embarrassing.  We all feel these emotions that we see in today's readings. Like the time in the elevator when someone's stomach makes noises and we pretend we don't hear. At the dinner where two family members with different political opinions stray from the script and start speaking of topics sure to...

The Fight between Jacob and the Angel by Marc Chagall, 1967 This is the sermon that was offered up during Morning Prayer on August 2, 2020. This service was done by campers from the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa's EPIC online camp for congregations throughout the Diocese. The scripture readings were Psalm 17:1-7,15 and Genesis 32:22-31.  A recording of this service can be found at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBDUssj2hWA Steadfast. Stubborn. Determined. Dedicated. Do you know what these words mean? Do you think they are all describing someone who is a person who sounds like they will keep their word? That’s one way to describe the actions of Jacob who decided it would be a good idea to wrestle someone, a stranger, for hours during the night while his family waited across the river for him. Why would Jacob do that? What was the point? Here’s another set of words: Persuadable. Weak-willed. Liar.  Thief. How many of...